Tokyo Underground
by nessie6
Summary: AU. Tokyo's Underground is becoming increasingly dangerous as its prominent figures become more and more powerful. Kenshin must work undercover to help bring down the biggest criminal minds in the country, as lives all around him that are intricately connected are affected. Ensemble fic, all major characters the focus. Canon pairings. KK SM AM YT
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer- I do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor am I making a profit by writing this story. RK is the creation of Nobuhiro Watsuki. _

_Summary- AU. Tokyo's Underground is becoming increasingly dangerous as its prominent figures become more and more powerful. Kenshin must work undercover to help bring down the biggest criminal minds in the country, as lives all around him that are intricately connected are affected. Ensemble fic, all major characters the focus. Canon pairings. _

_A/N- Rated 'T' for now because of language but it will most likely go up later. Also let me know if I completely fail at honorifics. I tried. _

**Chapter One**

Kenshin eyed the sign over the building, wondering at his superior's purpose in exchanging information in such a public place. Releasing a tired sigh, he pushed the door open, a gush of warm air fluttering the shorter strands of his red hair slightly as his skin warmed from the crisp night air outside. It was currently snowing, the snowflakes immediately melting on anything they landed on and leaving everything in a state of chilly dampness.

A kind looking, if a little plain-faced, woman with dark hair greeted him, seating him immediately. She gave him a menu before telling him his server would be with him momentarily. Kenshin thanked her, catching the name pinned to the front of her blouse; it read 'Tae'.

Kenshin gazed at the menu, suddenly feeling ravenous. He quickly decided on the dumplings, figuring that he may as well eat while he was in a restaurant; he was originally only going to order something to drink but his rumbling stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten anything since the early afternoon. It was after seven.

Folding his menu, he spent the time waiting for his server to observe his surroundings. There was a side exit on the east side of the building, and several booths down from his sat a black haired man. The hair that fell into the man's eyes shifted slightly, as though giving it a slight shake, his gaze still intent on what he was reading. Kenshin directed his gaze elsewhere and paid him no further mind.

"Welcome!" a cheerful voice interrupted his observations and he jumped, his lavender-colored eyes landing on a pretty young woman who stood with her hands folded in front of her. She had poured him a glass of water already. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Uh, just tea please—Kaoru-dono," he said, using the name displayed over her heart to address her. For some reason her cheeks pinked and she nodded, hurrying to the room behind the counter; he assumed to make it for him.

When the waitress came back with his tea, he ordered the dumplings, noticing how efficient of a server this Kaoru was. It may be just because he was her only customer, since she didn't seem to be serving the man sitting further down, but he had a feeling that she always worked hard.

As he ate his food when it came, his eyes kept flitting to her from where she stood behind the counter, rearranging various things and wiping off the counter's surface. Her long black hair swished from its ponytail, interestingly tied in a deep indigo colored ribbon. Her eyes were enormous and blue and…well…they were quite pretty.

She must have been at least ten years younger than he, but still, he didn't much notice or, rather, take an interest in many women these days. The girl wasn't breathtakingly gorgeous like the sister of an old acquaintance he knew (he thought the man had become a doctor—it ran in the family, after all), but something about her strongly drew him. He couldn't quite place it.

She returned to collect his dishes, smiling pleasantly with her glowing cheeks as he thanked her and told her that the food was delicious. Moments later she brought him the bill and his receipt.

"Please come back soon," she told him, sounding quite earnest, taking the money he handed to her.

He smiled kindly at her, "I would be happy to. The food was delicious...and the service wonderful." It really was cute how her entire face blushed. "Would you kindly loan me a pen, Kaoru-dono?" He waited politely as she reached immediately into her apron pocket to pull out a black pen, holding it out to him. Their fingers brushed as he grabbed it from her, causing her to jump, startled, and scurry away with a squeaked out "Good-night!"

He watched her as she put the money in the cash register before disappearing once again in the back, looking adorably flustered. Kenshin figured she could afford to stay in the back since there seemed to be very few customers this late at night anyway.

He took his receipt and flipped it over, scribbling something on the back before folding it and standing from his booth, leaving the pen lying on the table. He nodded to the woman who had seated him earlier and, seeing that her attention seemed to be drawn to a log book, walked in the direction of the side exit he had spotted earlier.

As he neared the table where the black-haired man sat he dropped the receipt inconspicuously on the table top, noticing out of the corner of his eye as the man reached and slid it towards him without even flickering his eyes in Kenshin's direction. Without a pause Kenshin continued walking straight and out the exit. Nobody would have noticed any such exchange unless they were trained to.

* * *

Kaoru was still trying to get over her wretched blush and fluster when Misao burst through the back door, hurriedly stamping her timecard and tying on one of the aprons hanging on the hooks. She apologized profusely for her lateness, while Kaoru just waved her apologies aside.

"Don't worry about it," Kaoru said reassuringly, "I'm doing a double today anyway. Tae-san sent Akiko home anyway. By the way, your Sexy-san is here, he refused Akiko's service."

Misao squealed and clapped her hands over her suddenly burning cheeks. "Ahhhh!" Kaoru observed her as she skipped around the kitchen in complete giddiness, nearly knocking over Tsubame who was loading the dishwasher, and the cook, who was stirring a pot looking extremely disgruntled.

After letting out her excitement, Misao scurried to the door to wait on him, pausing for a moment to shoot Kaoru a very stern look.

"Kaoru-chan, don't be disrespectful," she said firmly, "he is called Sexy-_sama_."

And with that she flounced out the back, presumably to do anything within her power to draw out more than five words from the frequent customer who rarely spoke.

Kaoru shook her head at her best friend's hopelessness, wondering when Misao would ever take the plunge and just ask the guy out. He had been coming to the restaurant frequently for the past six months and always sat at the same table, which happened to be in the area that Misao always served. There had to be _something _appealing about Misao to him if he continued to do that.

Misao came bustling back in the kitchen, hurriedly setting up a pot of green tea, which happened to be the man's regular order.

"I can't believe he's been sitting there and refused another waitress to wait for me and he _still won't say more than six words_," Misao grumbled in frustration, her movements made with much more force than usual. "Ugh, he's so an_noy_ing!"

With that she brought the finished tea out to the waiting Sexy-san, and Kaoru had no doubt that Misao would still try to wring some words out of him. He really didn't seem—well, he proved he wasn't—one for small talk in all the instances he had been in the Akabeko.

Misao came back in five minutes later, her face now forlorn instead of frustrated. "Well, drawing conversation out of that man is about as easy as getting Sano to foot the bill for anything. Which means it's _fucking impossible_."

Kaoru grinned, glimpsing at Tsubame to gauge her reaction. The fifteen year old girl hardly blushed, which only confirmed Kaoru's suspicions that she had been spending a lot more time with Kaoru's cousin Yahiko lately. His language was positively vulgar. Kaoru scowled at the thought that he wouldn't curb his tongue in front of a shy young lady.

'Uncouth brat,' she thought darkly.

"Sexy-san will come around, Misao-chan," Kaoru spoke with much wisdom. "You can wear anybody down."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Misao said dryly, leaning against the table Kaoru sat at with a sigh and crossing her arms. "He doesn't even want food. All he wants is green tea. What's the point?"

Kaoru shrugged. "Men are strange creatures."

Her thoughts inevitably drifted to the red-head that left moments before Misao made it to work. _He _had been positively nice and wonderfully polite and fantastically handsome—

Feeling her cheeks warm again, Kaoru forced herself to focus on what Misao was telling her about her day.

But she couldn't help thinking that it would be nice if he came by again…

* * *

_A/N- I am taking a risk by posting this while I only have the next few chapters planned. I think response would give me the motivation to continue. First few chapters are going to establish characters, so they'll be rather short.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer- I do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor am I making a profit by writing this story. RK is the creation of Nobuhiro Watsuki. _

_Summary- AU. Tokyo's Underground is becoming increasingly dangerous as its prominent figures become more and more powerful. Kenshin must work undercover to help bring down the biggest criminal mindss in the country, as lives all around him that are intricately connected are affected. Ensemble fic, all major characters the focus. Canon pairings. _

_A/N- Rated 'T' for now because of language but it will most likely go up later. Also let me know if I completely fail at honorifics. I tried. _

**Chapter Two**

Filling in the last answer of the quiz, Kaoru gathered her folder and books and walked to the front to turn it in. With a nod from the professor she was dismissed. Not wasting any time, Kaoru rushed from class; there would only be enough time to stop home and meet up with Yahiko and leave again quickly in order to make it to the restaurant where her father and his cousin were waiting for them. Kaoru's father had been very close to his cousin Kotone growing up and so Kaoru knew her and her family well.

By the time she reached the family dojo Yahiko was already waiting outside, an impatient scowl plastered on his face.

"'Bout time, Ugly," he grumbled as he stood from the steps, waiting as she hurriedly threw her school things into the house before rushing down the stairs. He ducked the swing at his head she made and then they set off together.

The restaurant they entered was crowded with people on their lunch break and bustling servers. Kaoru spotted her father and the others quickly, and she weaved between tables and people to make it to their table. She bent to kiss her father's cheek, and then his cousin Kotone's, whom she considered as an aunt. She sat at one of the two empty seats. Yahiko had visibly slumped when he saw that besides his uncle, it was a table full of women. He had been hoping one or both of Kotone's sons would be there. All the women seemed to do was talk about embarrassing topics.

"We're not too late, are we?" Kaoru asked as a waiter came quickly to serve her water. The middle aged Kotone smiled and denied that they were very late. She and her daughter Megumi were near the spitting image of each other, the resemblance even more pronounced as they were seated right next to the other.

"My, Kaoru-chan, you are blossoming into a very pretty young woman now," Kotone said, "surely you must have a boyfriend now?"

It was a question she asked every time she saw her but Kaoru still felt her face burning up as she sputtered while Yahiko snickered beside her. Megumi laughed behind her hand while Koshijiro looked at his daughter in sympathetic amusement.

"N-no," she denied quickly, taking a frantic sip of water while elbowing Yahiko in the ribs when he snickered even harder. She hadn't had a boyfriend in nearly two years. One of the years she hardly interacted with anybody because she had taken a break from school to help her father run the dojo after his heart-attack. Still, it was quite embarrassing. Her brows furrowed as Yahiko continued to snicker obnoxiously. Feeling a grin sneak up her lips, Kaoru said slyly, "Why don't you tell Kotone-obasan about Tsubame-chan, Yahiko-_chan_." She said the last part with a particular vicious glee.

Flushing in mortification, Kaoru watched with distinct pleasure as Yahiko stuttered an answer for Kotone, knowing that he wouldn't get out of an explanation easily; especially not with Megumi there to tease him. She was rather merciless.

As Yahiko was subjected to the teasing of the rest of the party, Kaoru observed the way Kotone Takani's face lit up as she teased the teenager. She looked healthier and happier than she ever had in the past two years, when her husband was murdered while making a house call to one of the poorer and more dangerous neighborhoods in Tokyo. Ryuusei Takani's death nearly destroyed his wife and sent his family into despair with little hope at the time of repairing itself. However, things seemed to have vastly improved.

Megumi also looked happy and beautiful as always, albeit tired. She was currently taking her residency at the hospital, all while also finding time to spare for studying and helping out every once in awhile at the Oguni Clinic, where her eldest brother and his father-in-law worked.

"And how are you?" Kaoru asked when Megumi's attention finally diverted from teasing Yahiko to Kaoru.

"Oh, you know," Megumi waved her hand elegantly before sipping her tea. "Busy and exhausted. But never been better."

Yes, things were definitely looking up for her family, Kaoru thought happily.

* * *

Disgruntled from a harried day at work, Misao was not in an entirely pleasant mood when she spotted the impossibly tall figure of her friend waiting in the distance at their arranged meeting place, standing with his hands in his pockets by one of the park's fountains. While usually happy to see him since it was a rare occasion, it didn't help her mood that the last time they arranged to meet he blew her off because 'something came up.'

He seemed to spot her as she was storming towards him, as he turned to face her fully, a toothpick casually hanging from his mouth. She felt her annoyance melt away at his carefree and friendly grin.

'Gahh, how am I supposed to stay mad at him?' Misao thought fondly.

"Hey weasel-girl," he called, extracting one of his hands from his pockets to give her a careless wave.

"Don't call me that!" Misao exploded immediately, waving her fists over her head as she neared him, wondering how on earth it was so easy for him to piss her off. Sano batted her tiny fists away easily; they barely reached level with his face because of their extreme height difference.

"Hmph!" she grunted, finally settling on a punch to his midsection. The jerk didn't even flinch. "You better make it up to me for bailing on me last Wednesday!"

"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving his hand as though waving her annoyance aside. "Let's take a walk so we'll have more privacy to discuss your disgustin' gamblin' habits."

Misao punched his arm. "You jerk! You're worse than me!" it was true that their friendship started in high school over their mutual love for gambling, and Misao occasionally—_very _occasionally she would insist—took part in some not-so-legal gambling places that Sanosuke would hook her up with. Most of the time she only gambled in a completely legal manner, but the occasional indulgence a few times a year sent a thrill down her spine. When she was with them, Kaoru would berate Sanosuke for fueling Misao's bad habits. Sano would argue that Kaoru should be thankful that someone they trusted was setting Misao up and making sure she stayed out of trouble.

"Here," he grunted, slipping her a small piece of paper that she pocketed. "They got the usual mahjong and rock-paper-scissors that you enjoy—cards and other high stakes too. The second address is where they're havin' my next match. If you want to win easy money, you can bet I'll win."

"If I want to _lose _money, you mean," Misao teased. He playfully swiped at her head, which she easily ducked. She knew if she went to the match—and she would always go with Kaoru—she would bet on Sano to win. He rarely ever lost in his cage-fight matches, but it was still sometimes upsetting to watch them. They were brutal and most of the time Sano always received some sort of injury. Misao had noticed the scraped knuckles of his right hand, but she wasn't entirely sure he had gotten those from one of his matches. Sometimes Sano did things for pay that it was best not to know about. Or at least that's what he would tell her and Kaoru.

He reached over to ruffle her hair, messing her braid completely. She swatted irritably at his hand like a bothersome insect, a grunt of annoyance escaping her as he chuckled in amusement.

"Why didn't jou-chan come?" he asked, shoving his hands back into his jean pockets. "I haven't seen her in awhile."

"Kaoru-chan is having lunch with her father and some cousins. She has informed me that it's been three months since you last saw her and shame on you for being so scarce," Misao scolded, putting her hands on her hips as they continued walking down a busy sidewalk. It hardly made her more intimidating. "You could make time for us more often, you know."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that," he said a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. He stopped to look in the window of a restaurant. There was a menu displayed and he gazed at the prices in interest before practically reeling back as though they had burned his retinas. Shaking his head and not explaining his absence further, he said, "You get a discount at the Akabeko, right? How 'bout some lunch."

Misao sighed, knowing exactly who was going to wind up paying. "Fine, but Tae-san is going to be incredibly put off when you add more to your tab. Stop wasting your money on gambling and booze and start paying it off, would you?"

"Oi, no lectures from the girl meetin' up with me just for gamblin' locations," he grunted, annoyed. "And I've paid off a bit…"

"Katsu-san loaning you money to pay off your debt at his own fiancé's restaurant does not count, Sanosuke."

"_Tch_, dunno why you gotta be so stingy."

"If _anyone _is stingy, it's _you. _I don't know why _you _have to be such a freeloading bum…_bum_."

"Y'know, you might really hurt my feelings one of these days if you keep goin' on like that."

"Oh shut up."

"Ouch, Weasel-girl, my heart might never recover."

"Sanooo!"

* * *

_A/N- Well, I have the next two chapters roughly written. And Sano's here! Yay!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer- I do not own Rurouni Kenshin nor am I making a profit by writing this story. RK is the creation of Nobuhiro Watsuki. _

_Summary- AU. Tokyo's Underground is becoming increasingly dangerous as its prominent figures become more and more powerful. Kenshin must work undercover to help bring down the biggest criminal mindss in the country, as lives all around him that are intricately connected are affected. Ensemble fic, all major characters the focus. Canon pairings. _

_A/N- Rated 'T' for now because of language but it will most likely go up later. Also let me know if I completely fail at honorifics. I tried. _

**Chapter Three**

It was already nearing nine o'clock when Megumi entered the Oguni Clinic, intent on seeing her eldest brother. There were still a few people situated in the waiting room, and Megumi knew her brother wouldn't leave until the last person was taken care of. She knew he had been working hard for the past week because his father-in-law, Gensai-sensei, had hurt his back a little while ago.

The nurse sitting at the window looked bored, her face only displaying the barest of recognition as Megumi walked up to the window (ignoring a wolf-whistle from one of the men). Normally during the day Megumi's sister-in-law would sit at the window, but seeing as it was so late she must have been home with their children.

"Is my brother free for a moment?" she asked the nurse politely, casting a slightly disapproving eye over the fact that she was texting from her phone on the job. She should be helping the people in the waiting room!

"I don't know," the nurse replied gruffly, "Probably will delay seeing the next patient when he comes out to see _you_. Like I'm not here long enough."

"It's not like you're doing anything useful," Megumi snapped. "Why aren't you getting any of these patients' information?"

With a scowl, the nurse shoved back away from the table and grabbed several forms and clipboards, most likely going to do just exactly that. Megumi shook her head in disgust.

Without another word, Megumi opened the door that led to the exam rooms and the offices. Noting which door had no chart in the pocket next to it, she rapped on that one quickly. Her brother Ryouta opened it with an irritable expression, which softened immediately when he saw it was his sister.

"Give me about five more minutes and I'll meet you in my office," he said quickly, "I'm almost done with this patient—sore throat."

He closed the door firmly without waiting for a response.

With a sigh, Megumi kept going straight down to the end of the hallway to the office given to her brother two years ago by Gensai-sensei. She dropped her designer purse on his desk and sat in the chair, leaning forward to examine the framed photos situated lovingly on top of his desk along with scattered notes.

There was one of Ryouta and his wife Ayako, along with their two little girls Ayame and Suzame. Another held a picture of Megumi and her two brothers, taken several years ago. The next was a picture of the whole family including their parents. Lastly, there was a candid one of Ryouta when he was about nine, fishing with their father and laughing. He had sacrificed much of his desk space so that he could see these every day when he was at work. The picture of Ryouta and their father was one of her favorites; it was clear even when he was a child that he was the mirror image of Ryuusei Takani.

Megumi didn't have very long to wait for her brother, who came to see her like he promised immediately after his patient, even though there were still more waiting. Megumi could see the nurse down the hall putting a tall man with a bloody hand in the room Ryouta just vacated.

"You came for my notes and old textbooks, right?" he said through a yawn as he ran his fingers through his silky black hair, leaving it mussed. "Sorry, I completely forgot them. When do you need them by?"

Megumi stifled her annoyance as his forgetfulness, remembering that he had been incredibly busy and probably didn't have very much time lately for remembering things outside of work. "Tomorrow would be fine. Do you want me to see anybody? You're here awfully late," she made sure to sound reproachful.

"If you can see a few—I really don't want you to use your study time," he must have been _really _exhausted if he was accepting an offer of help, when he usually did not out of pure pride and stubbornness. He even had shadows under his eyes.

"Alright," Megumi said, suddenly sounding professional. She stripped off her coat and rolled up her sleeves. It looked like there was no extra doctor's coat hanging in the office like usual.

She followed her brother and took the room that the nurse just exited. Grabbing the chart and exchanging a glare with her, Megumi deliberately stuck her nose in the air and glanced at the notes. Suspected hand injury.

"A lady-doctor, eh?" an amused voice broke her concentration, and Megumi looked up to see a man sitting on the bench, leaning forward on his knees. She glanced quickly at his right hand and noticed that it had been severely abused.

"Not quite yet," she answered, trying to remain calm. "Does it make a difference to you—" she took a quick glance at the name. "Sagara-san?"

"Not really, no. Just wasn't expectin' it 'cause I saw the guy-doctor and thought he was the only one here," he said, holding his hand out so she could see it better. "I need a quick fix."

Megumi set the chart to the side, putting on latex gloves before she took his right hand in both of hers and carefully began to unwrap the sloppy makeshift bandage. "What's the hurry, Sagara-san? You need to rest your hand as much as possible if you want it to heal properly," she noticed his ring finger was crooked. "This finger is definitely broken. It'll need an X-ray to determine the extent of the damage. How did you damage your hand?"

The young man sighed irritably, as though it was _her _fault that he had a broken appendage! "Listen, I ain't got time or money gettin' a bunch of X-rays and stuff. I just need this hand fixed up as much as possible before next Thursday. I earn a livin' with this hand, y'know. And I thought this was the kind of clinic that doesn't ask any questions 'bout how these things happen?"

Megumi took a deep breath, trying to remember than not all men were as refined as the many she knew—why, this one was positively barbaric! _Worse _than Yahiko!

"If that is what you want," she said as emotionlessly as possible, but she was sure she couldn't hide the serious disapproval in her expression. Turning abruptly she opened the cabinets, gathering gauze, fresh bandages, and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. She beckoned him to stand by her and hover his hand over the sink so that she could pour the peroxide over it.

Megumi diligently cleaned the hand as best as she could, neither of them saying anything. When she was positive she did the best she could, she directed him to sit back on the bench so she could wrap it.

"I could set the finger and put a splint on it," Megumi admitted, although reluctantly. "I really do recommend an X-ray. You can get one here, and set up an easy-to-afford payment plan. Gensai-sensei is incredibly lenient with the services rendered here."

As she finished, she quickly pulled on the broken finger, hearing a snap and a grunt from the man. She gave him credit for not being louder. A broken finger was painful, even if it was a smaller bone. She quickly grabbed one of the larger splints (the man's hands themselves were big and he wouldn't fit in a normal one), and went to work bandaging and taping his hand. When she was done he had bandages going up to his wrist.

"You may need further treatment for the finger at the least," Megumi said as she started gathering the supplies and putting them away, sure that repeating something was the only way to get a message into this man's thick skull. All he did was shrug. "You should have it checked again in a couple of weeks."

"That finger's not really important anyway," he said nonchalantly. "Thanks doc."

And he left. Megumi growled in annoyance. Idiot man!

She grabbed his chart to make her notes (all people that came to the clinic got one, no matter if they had only come once). She once again looked over his full information. Sagara Sanosuke. Born February 19, 1985. He was just twenty-three. A man physically, although obviously not mentally.

Really, younger men were stupid and had no sense. It was why she typically went for older men. Mature, successful, _intelligent _older men.

She went to see the next patient.

* * *

Kenshin leaned against the tree across from the Oguni Clinic. He had followed the man that he and his superior were going to discuss. His eyes caught movement in his peripheral and he turned to see Shinomori Aoshi practically materialize from the shadows. They nodded to each other in greeting.

"Who's your informant?" Aoshi asked without preamble. Just that second, the door to the clinic opened and a tall figure exited, adjusting his jacket. Kenshin nodded his chin to him. They both watched him for a moment. To his credit, the man seemed to sense eyes on him because he paused for a moment, looking around at the shadows. His eyes seem to rest where Kenshin and Aoshi stood, although it was too dark to see them. He shrugged and kept on walking, and Kenshin could see that he deliberately relaxed his shoulders as though he suspected nothing.

"He goes by Zanza, although he seems to trust me enough to give me his name—I know him as Sano," Kenshin said when Sanosuke was clearly out of earshot. "He's very familiar with the workings of the Underground, and he's hired by many different people. He has no particular allegiance. I don't think I gave myself away but either he suspects something and wants to help me, or he's just that stupid. I mean," Kenshin stumbled to correct himself, not wanting to paint Sanosuke in a bad light, "he's—he's not the most intelligent person I know but he _does _have street smarts, so I'm more willing to believe it's the former."

"Hn," was all Aoshi said, his piercing eyes still following Sanosuke's retreating figure. "It is possible that he's feeding you information to gain your trust so he could spring you into a trap."

Kenshin was already shaking his head before Aoshi even finished the suggestion. "No, it's not in his character. I've been around him for quite awhile. He despises dishonesty. Despite his lifestyle and some of the less than legal…activities he partakes in, I think he's a good man at heart. He doesn't have the intelligence to do it either. I think…I think he could be useful to use if he's made into an official informant."

Aoshi shrugged. "You will have to suggest it to the boss. Do what you can to make sure he's completely trustworthy. I am not optimistic, but if you are set on this then you need to make as convincing a case as possible. _Without _jeopardizing your cover."

Kenshin sighed. He'd rather interact as little as possible with the 'boss.' They did not…get along very well.

"The others are keeping tabs on Takeda," Aoshi interrupted his thoughts. "Focus your energy on Udou Jin-e. Make a move when you have the chance. He's too dangerous to let roam free. If possible, also do this in a way that won't blow your cover."

Kenshin nodded, already suspecting that Aoshi would keep him on Udou. He was the greater physical danger, although Takeda had more outside and political influence—the case against him needed to be built slowly for anything to be substantial in court. The men keeping tabs on him were good and talented and already deeply infiltrated in the Underground. It helped that they _looked _like they belonged there.

Taking this as his cue that they were done, Kenshin stood straight, no longer leaning against the tree. However, just as he made to walk in the opposite direction, Aoshi spoke unexpectedly.

"By the way, the 'boss' wants to be briefed personally by you. I'll contact you with the time and place," and with that he turned and started walking before Kenshin could even register what he said. He did not see the smirk the taller man had on his face when Kenshin couldn't help but grunt in annoyance.

Wonderful.

* * *

_A/N- Hey so I'm getting a lot of hits on this story, but a significant amount less in reviews. I'll always continue as long as at least one person expresses interests, although sometimes it's admittedly disheartening to get so few. Ah well. Please review? _


End file.
